


No matter what

by Artaku



Series: NMW [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Goodish Chara, OC, OC’s aren’t really important, Ok.. maybe one OC is important, Sans Remembers Resets, but only because I couldn’t come up with anything else
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:38:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 12,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artaku/pseuds/Artaku
Summary: Change can be good or bad depending.. but it is inevitable. The question is.. how does one handle the change?





	1. Chapter 1

Snow falls gently upon a red scarf. It looks almost as if it had always belonged there. As though it was merely a piece of the scenery.

    A skeleton stumbles across this scene and his eye light blink out as tears fall liberally from his eye sockets. He tries not to look at the pile of.. well of dust. 

This wasn’t the first time he’d been there. Not even close. The skeleton had stood at at this very place in this very “moment” so many times he’d lost count. Not that it really mattered, did it? The outcome would probably never change.

He watched as the human ~~the demon~~ chose to spare Undyne this time. The skeleton supposed that the human was just tired of getting dunked on. Of course it was also possible that they just didn’t want to betray MK again. Honestly though, why should it really matter. The important thing was that they’d spared Undyne, and insured that he couldn’t touch them.                                            

     If only he had been able to not _have_  to take that _job_. If only he’d been able to not become the head judge, he would’ve torn them asunder. Promise or not he would’ve insured that, that.. that creature would pay. The problem was that he was still the judge, and so he could do nothing.

This was because it had been decided years ago when the king (during the time of the first human) had declared that abilities that caused to much damage should only be used in cases of absolute emergency (and that humans didn’t count as “emergencies”). Of course after that the royal children perished leading to what most considered a soft withdrawal of said declaration. It was never actually withdrawn though, and so the judge had to continue to abide by it (after all he was the one who enforced the rules).

After tiring of watching the brat traipse through Hotland without a care, he chose to return to the judgement hall to await them. Perhaps, he thought, perhaps this would be the day that he would show them just how lucky they were. Perhaps this would be the loop he chose to forget the rules (just this once) and really make them understand. It wouldn’t even be hard. Heck, it might even be fun.

Unfortunately for the skeleton, he knew that his brother wouldn’t have approved of such actions. After all the human _had_ stopped their rampage, and shown they _could_ , and _would_  do better. Plus, his brother would’ve also reminded him of the promise he’d made.

Of course, not the one to old lady behind the door though. No, that promise would never have been enough to stop him. Instead it was a promise his brother had forced on him just before his fight with that monster. A promise to not hurt them so long as they choose **MERCY**  even once, because apparently that meant that they still had some good in them, or something.

The skeleton sighed, and looked up as the human walked in. He was ready to let them go. “The end of your journey is at hand...”

As the human walked away, the skeleton, no Sans made a decision. No matter what the human did next time he’d insure that they really and truly.

 

**Would be dead where they stood.**

No matter what..


	2. Chapter 2

_4 or 5 resets later_

The snow fell on a path that led to a large, imposing door that appeared to be almost carved into an impenetrable wall of stone. Upon the path stood a skeleton. He almost appeared to be waiting for something or someone to just walk through the door. This was because he was.

      What the skeleton was waiting for was, in fact a human. But not just any human. No this was _THE_ human that had been terrorizing the many denizens of the underground. It had played with their hearts, making them happy or sad upon their whim. And it had killed all of them, just to return to the beginning to do it all over.

    The skeleton had, of course, given up on ever escaping this hell long ago. ~~He’d~~ they’d excepted that this was it. That nothing could be done, and so they were now ready to just have it end sooner. Though not without a fight of course. They knew the human would fight, going through small resets back to back until it had won, and it would win. They always did. They just wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine.

    Of course their brother wouldn’t be happy, but he wasn’t certain that he actually cared anymore. They stopped at that thought. It was the very thought that had kept him from completing his plan over the last few rests. But now... they laughed when they realized how hollow they felt now that they just didn’t care anymore.

     As the door opened and the “human” walked out into the snow their grin widened, becoming almost maniacal in nature. They were going to enjoy this...

* * *

 Frisk wasn’t certain as to what they were looking at. Well actually they did know what they were looking, but it just didn’t make sense. They could _see_ Sans standing there, just waiting for them.

     As far as they knew he’d _never_ waited them out in the open. Especially when they were aiming for becoming a true pacifist, as they were today. It unnerved them somehow. “what’s wrong?” He called adding to Frisk’s uncertainty, “aren’t you going to come greet a new pal?”

    Frisk sighed. They knew that they couldn’t put this off, after all the door was shut and this was certainly new. That decided a lot of things, so Frisk quickly **SAVED**  and stepped forward into...

     “aren’t you going to come greet a new pal?” Frisk had just reloaded.. this meant that either they’d felt they’d messed up and had attempted to undo it (they hadn’t) or that... Sans had just killed them. They supposed it wasn’t unthinkable, but.. it was just.. unbelievable to think that Sans would break his promise.

     Frisk decided to try again and so they stepped forward.. and quickly backed up as a blaster beam nearly connected with them. They then proceeded to jump and dodge as rows of bones in patterns they’d never seen before, bore down on them.

    They attempted to ask Sans what was wrong, but he just laughed and “said you know what’s wrong”. They supposed they might know, but no one was supposed to be able to remember... They tried apologizing, and they were met with a glare and an “it’s to late for apologies.” They sought their **MERCY** button, but it didn’t appear to exist. Sans smirked and queered “why don’t you just fight? after all, it’s what YOUR good at, right?”

     They felt tears start to slip quietly from their eyes. After all they had done this. In their determination to change that unsatisfactory ending, they had attempted to unwrite history by continuing to refuse **MERCY** as an option. They’d eventually come to the conclusion though, that nothing was going to change, and so had slowly given up their quest and eventually decided that even that incomplete ending was better than nothing. Obviously they’d been wrong...

    They’d broken the only person that might’ve understood.. They knew what they had to do...

 

     
  **[FIGHT] [** **MERCY]**


	3. Not a chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MERCY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn’t actually a chapter, it’s actually an alternative choice. So... if you want to skip it feel free, I guess? Also if you’ve actually made it this far, I’d love to know what you think

**[MERCY]**

 

Frisk did the only thing that they could think of. They spread their arms in a gesture of, what they hoped appeared to be, **MERCY**. Sans’s attack shot through they and they smiled. This was for the best, they thought...

* * *

 

The skeleton collapsed. They had won! The human was.. the human was dead. As the skeleton’s rage calmed they were left with a feeling of nothingness.

~~They~~ , no he, looked away from the corpse and found, to his surprise that his phalanges were beginning to dust. He supposed that he should’ve expected this. After all, it had been one of the main reasons that monsters like him had originally been banned from fighting. The fear of this happening had also been why he’d followed the king’s law even after it had been all but expunged.

He slowly closed his sockets suddenly feeling a wave of tiredness that was unlike any he’d felt before. This was it... this was the end. He could feel tears slipping down his face. Whether for the human, or something else didn’t matter. He suddenly found himself longing for the human to reset. He would’ve pleaded with them to do so if he’d had the energy. They didn’t reset. Upon realizing that this might really be it, he slowly forced his sockets open and whispered, “i’m sorry papyrus... you.. were.. ri...”

* * *

A few hours later the only other skeleton in the underground stumbled upon what was left of his brother and the human. Upon making the discovery he slowly collapsed and took out his cellphone, calling one of the few numbers saved on it. 

“UNDYNE, YOU... YOU CAN C-CALL OFF THE SEARCH PARTY, I’Ve.. I mean he’s... w-well.. you see... he’s.. (sigh) I’ve found him...”


	4. Chapter 3

**[** **FIGHT]**

 

“Are you sure,” a voice whispered at the back of Frisk’s head. Frisk sighed, the voice belonged to none other than the first fallen human, a youngish (more like teenage) girl known to the underground as Chara. She had been Frisk’s constant companion through the many resets, and as such knew when Frisk hesitated (like now). _“There’s no other option”_ Frisk thought back.

They could stop and throw their arms out in a gesture of **MERCY** , but they suspected that, that would do nothing. Honestly, that was about it. At this time Toriel would be almost back to her house, and that meant that she would be of no help until at least tomorrow. They _could_ wait for Papyrus, but chances were that he never came all the way down this path. That left.. only one option.

And so they chose to **FIGHT**. After all, Sans _should_ have enough HP to take a hit,especially if there was no intent to back it up, right? 

Wrong.. as the stick smacked Sans, his HP bar drained away, showing Frisk just how low there HP really was. 

 

Frisk screamed.

 

Upon finishing the battle, Frisk ran to the skeleton’s side before the options menu had even had time to fade. They fell to their knees, and started to plead with Sans to hold on. They took out the Butterscotch cinnamon pie from their inventory, hoping that it would do.. something.

As they did this Sans (who unknown and “plot relevant” reasons hadn’t dusted yet) opened his eye sockets and attempted to light his eye lights. He sighed, realizing that the kid was (probably) trying to save him. He knew that they couldn’t. Once a monster hit 0 HP they couldn’t be saved. They might be able to last for a little while if they had enough **DETERMINATION** , but that was it.

“kid..” Sans managed to finally whisper. The human, Frisk, hadn’t heard him, so he tried again. “kid.. you can’t.. help” Frisk glanced up and gasped. “Sans! D-don’t worry, I’ll.. fix this,” They sobbed. Sans sighed, “kid.. i.. i’m not going to make it. i-i need you to t-tell my brother that i’m sorry and that i lo-love hi””No!” Frisk glared while Chara tried to explain what was happening. “You are going to live!”

Sans looked at Frisk and just smiled slowly.. and dusted right there, in their arms. They tried to will him not to, but it was in vain.

 

Within moments, the air was filled with Frisk’s frantic screams...


	5. Chapter 4

Papyrus wasn’t usually one to worry. He usually just went with the flow, accepting that what would be, would be. Like pretending not to understand what _really_ happened to humans who attempted to leave the underground. It wasn’t that he wanted to appear to be an innocent and naive idiot, so much as it was him attempting to soothe his brother’s and Undynes concerns.

Speaking of which, his brother just happened to have become his main concern of the day. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he had been filled with a sense of dread whenever Sans crossed his mind, since the day had begun.

It had started with just a small twist of his nonexistent gut, but had grown more intense as the day had continued. And now it had come to a head, as he felt a fear that may even have eclipsed the fear from _that_ day. This caused Him to search for his lazy brother, only to find.. nothing

Sans wasn’t in any of his usual places. Not at any of his sentry, nor was he in _that place_. That still wouldn’t have worried him is not for.. the fact that he wasn’t at Grillby’s either. That was what decidedly tipped Papyrus over the edge.

In a panic, that he couldn’t explain, he called his dear friend? Associate? No definitely friend Undyne. He attempted to explain how he’d woken feeling something was off, and that he was now absolutely certain that it had something to do with Sans. Undyne.. Undyne, bless her soul, wasn’t having any of it. “You need to calm down, Papyrus,” she groaned. “Do you really think that your brother can’t take care of himself. You can’t always...” She got no farther, as an ear splitting scream echoed through the cavern.

This was what Papyrus was certain he had been fearing. As such, he ran off, dropping his phone (and forgetting Undyne) thinking only of what he would find when he finally reached the scream. It was possible that he might (he hoped) find nothing, but in his soul he already knew what he would find.

He raced through town, across the bridge, and down the path. He passed each of the sentry stations, and all of his his puzzles in a blink of an eye. He only slowed when he reached Sans’s station. He could hear the screaming again, this time more desperate, and understandable, yet strangely unrecognizable.

The problem lay in what they were yelling...

 

They were screaming Sans’s name..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve made it this far, then I’d love to hear your opinion.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know why, but I feel like I should apologize. So.. sorry?

Upon reaching the source of the screams, Papyrus found something worse than anything he could’ve ever imagined.

There was a human (yes he knew what a human looked like, after all there were plenty of books on them in the Librarby) clutching a faded blue jacket surrounded by what looked like... Papyrus didn’t want to think about that.

Instead he turned and addressed the human, who appeared to be trying to.. swipe at something? “HUMAN,” he boomed, “I HATE TO BE A BOTHER, BUT HAVE YOU SEEN A SKELETON, MUCH LIKE MYSELF? THEY WOULD BE MUCH CLOSER TO YOUR HIGHT AND WEARING A.. WEARING.. A... a.. much like what.. you’re holding. OH BUT OBVIOUSLY NOT THAT ONE SENSE MY BROTHER SHOuld be wearing it...

Papyrus stopped speaking as he realized that the human seemed to be saying something ridiculous. “He attacked me, ” they shuddered out, “I h-had to do so-something. I’m sorry... I’m so, so sorry.” “The human must be talking in a code of some kind” Papyrus whispered under his breath in an attempt to rationalize. “A-after all it wasn’t like this human could... I mean my brother isn’t one to... I need to ca-call Undyne.. I.. need to.. I need to...” he continued, as he continued to attempt to ignore the powdery substance that seemed to surround the human. Because it really did look a lot like..

It was a good thing that Papyrus didn’t have a stomach. Because if he had, then in that moment, he would’ve definitely thrown up. He could also feel an unfamiliar feeling filling his soul. It wasn’t pleasant feeling, but it seemed to filling him regardless.

He turned to the human. He “looked” them dead in the eye and bellowed, “I CHALLENGE YOU, HUMAN, TO SINGLE COMBAT.”

 

___________________________

 

“Not again,” Chara groaned, “we, or rather you, literally just fought with his brother. I mean does he really think that he can beat us if Sans can’t. Is he actually a suicidal idiot?”

Frisk sighed, “ _he’s_ _just_ _upset_. _I seem to remember that you_   _reacted in a similar manner after_ _Asriel_ _was “dusted” during those runs. Or do you actually want my soul?_ ””No, but still...” Chara sighed, “this doesn’t feel right..” _”_ _I_ _agree_ ,  _but_ _I_ _can’t_ _seem_ _to_ _reset.”_

“Papyrus, I don’t want t-to fight you” Frisk hoped that they would be able to reason with Papyrus. Out of all the monsters in the underground, he was the only one who had always spared them (even when they didn’t deserve it).Of course, Sans had also been rather pasifistic, unless it was one of those runs, and look how that turned out.

The option menu flared to life, and Frisk glanced at it fearing that they would find... but no. The option for **MERCY** was still there (much to their relief) blazing yellow as always. Frisk (surprisingly) had the first move. They immediately slammed their fist onto **MERCY** not even bothering to **CHECK** or **ACT**.

Papyrus clearly wasn’t amused as the words _Papyrus_ _doesn’t_ _except_ _your_ **MERCY** appeared in front of them. Papyrus then proceeded to pelt them with bones, following his usual pattern (much to both Frisk’s and Chara’s relief).

They then **CHECKED** Papyrus. AT 20, DF 20, _He_ _doesn’t_ _want_ _to_ _understand_. “Well.. that wasn’t useful,” Chara mused. After another wave of attacks, Frisk decided to **ACT**..

 

_You tell Papyrus that you’re sorry_

_Papyrus isn’t certain as to what you mean._

_You tell Papyrus that Sans was sorry._

_Papyrus covers his ears._

_You tell Papyrus that you didn’t mean to._

_Papyrus remembers that he doesn’t have ears_

_You attempt to explain._

_Papyrus starts to hum loudly._

_You tell Papyrus that Sans said he loved him._

_Papyrus hesitates._

_You say that you are sorry, again._

_Papyrus blinks away something._

_You look at your feet._

_Papyrus wipes at his sockets._

 

Frisk checked the **MERCY** button. Papyrus’s name was yellow.

 

They pushed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve made it this far, then please feel free to comment. I’d love to know how good (or more likely bad) I’m doing.


	7. Chapter 6

In another part of the underground a lizard monster sat staring at the screen.

 

Alphys sighed. Today had been a rather bad day starting off with a text from her subordinate, Xilla, giving the usual excuses as to why she (yet again) couldn’t come into work. Did Xilla really think that Alphys wasn’t aware of the fact that Xilla hadn’t been into work since the most recent failure? It would’ve been better if Xilla had just been honest. Alphys understood after all.

Following that, one of the light’s had begun to flicker, and the thermostat had decided to get stuck at 60° F/16°C. And as if that wasn’t enough, Alphys had run out of food for the amalgamates forcing her to head out to the nearest store for more.

Alphys had thought that this day couldn’t get any worse, until she’d turned to the video feed. She couldn’t believe it.

First there was Sans had just standing by the door to nowhere for hours. Then there was the human that just walked out. There was some sort of tussle and.. Sans hadn’t walked away. And then a few minutes later, the human just.. spared Papyrus.

At first, she had hoped that, she was asleep at her desk. It was to horrible to think that this could be real. San’s was... well.. he was a judge. In fact, he was the head judge. Defeating the head judge was like beating all judges past and present at once. It was just inconceivable to believe that.. that he’d lost.

For a while Alphys just sat and stared at her computer, trying to convince herself, that she was about to wake up. That this was just a silly nightmare and that she would wake up to a call from her punny friend.

It had almost worked when.. ( _Insert_ _Mew_ _Mew_ _Kissy_ _Cutie_ _opening_ _theme_ _here_ ). Alphys blinked, and began searching for her phone. Unknown to her, tears began slipping down her face. “It m-must b-be here s-s-somewhere” she said aloud.

Finally she found her phone (startling when she saw how late it had gotten) and answered, “he-hello? May I a-ask who th-this is?” “ _It’s_ _me_ _Alphys_ , _Undyne_ ” a very familiar voice said, “(squeak) o-oh.. a-a-ah.. u-um.. wha-what’s up?” Alphys finally managed to reply. “ _Well_ _you_ _see_.. ( _this_ _is_ _so_ _embarrassing_ ).. _my_.. _uh_.. _friend_ _is_ _looking_ _for_ _someone_ _and_ _I_ _was_ _wonder_ _if_ _you_ _could_.. _you_ _know_.. _um_.. _help_ _out_?” There was a slight pause to give Alphys time to answer. When there was none, Undyne continued. “ _I_ _mean_.. _it’s_ _not_ _important_ , _but_.. _a_ _few_ _others_ _have_ _also_ _asked_. _Anyway_.. _could_ _you_ _maybe_ _just_.. _see_ _if_ _you_ _could_ _find_ _Sans_ _on_ _your_ _cameras_?”

Hearing Undyne’s request, caused all of Alphys’s hopes to this being just a dream collapsed in on themselves. She wanted to help Undyne, she really did. It was just that she knew that.. that it was useless. “I’m sorry U-Undyne, I’m afraid th-that.. th-that... I ca-can’t.. it’s.. (sob) I can’t help you, sorry” Alphys hung up with another sob. How could she explain.. why couldn’t she..

Alphys thought back to several years ago, before ***********.. to before the.. the incident. She remembered that Undyne had been.. _very_ close to Sans (well maybe not _that_ close, but they’d still been good friends), before Berkeley had.. and even if though it had been a long time since then, 8 years, and everything had changed, it felt wrong.

Maybe she should’ve just told Undyne the truth. After all Undyne _is_ the Captain and this _was_ important to know, but.. but Alphys just couldn’t.. it was a selfish thing to do, she knew it, but.. she just couldn’t. She couldn’t have Undyne learn the truth like this. Because..

 

Alphys just couldn’t break Undyne’s heart over that family (again)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’re curious about how Xilla looks or have questions, then I guess you could check out my tumblr- https://www.tumblr.com/blog/artakusmile
> 
> Just be forewarned that I’ve got basically nothing on it (I suck at social media)


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve still got no idea if anyone’s actually reading this, but here’s another chapter.

Undyne frowned at her phone. Well, that was weird, she thought, and frowned. This wasn’t like Alphys. Usually, Alphys would at least attempt to volunteer her services (or to go into a lengthy explanation as to she couldn’t help at this time) before hanging up with a squeak (a really cute squeak). Of course, this also wasn’t the first strange thing to happen today, either.

First, Papyrus had called frantically asking if she’d seen Sans (pffft, as if), only to suddenly just.. drop his phone? Undyne wasn’t certain, but she suspected that he hadn’t even tried to hang up. Afterwards she began to receive calls from other members of the guard with similar questions. Did they think that she had Sans on a leash or something? Honestly!

Finally getting fed up (she wasn’t actually beginning to feel concerned about him, really, that was ridiculous) she’d decided to call Alphys, and now.. Now she was worried. Not about Sans (honest), but about what this could mean.

The last time there had been a monster that just seemed to.. vanish, it had been because.. well it wasn’t worth thinking about. After all this was Sans they were talking about. Sans wasn’t the sort of individual to.. to.. it just wasn’t possible.. this wasn’t then.. after all..

Undyne tried to call Alphys again, but to no avail. Growling, she ran out of her house and down to the labs (stopping for water momentarily) and banged on Alphys’s door.

“Alphys” she called, “Alphys what’s wrong? What’s happened to Sans!” There was no answer. Undyne tried again, “if something’s happened, I need to know. I’m the _Captain_ _of_ _the_ _Royal_ _Guard_!” Still nothing. Ngaaa!

       As Undyne was considered how best to break in (with a boulder), Alphys apparently changed her mind. She opened the door and motioned for Undyne to enter.

Undyne couldn’t help but notice the tear streaks on Alphys’s face, and the occasional sniffle that seemed to be coming from her. It was so silly, and yet for some reason this _unnerved_ her, but she could get through this. After all she was Undyne, and this was Alphys, her best friend and crush. If Undyne couldn’t handle whatever this was about then.. she would have no right to ever confess.

“Undyne, I ne-need you t-to understand that it’s n-not g-going t-t-to be pleasant. You s-see Sa-Sans is.. that is.. Sans is...” Alphys was cut off by the sound of a phone going off. “Sorry Alphys, I’ve got to take this,” Undyne said.

 

“What’s up Papyrus?”


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. I’m probably going to flip to doing 1-2 chapters a week after tomorrow’s chapter. Also, I love feedback, so please tell your opinion of how I’m doing (but only if you want to).
> 
> (Anything else? Oh right!)  
> My really empty tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/artakusmile
> 
> And  
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

_30-60 minutes ago_

 

Frisk had watched as the tall, gangly, skeleton seemed to almost collapse in on himself. They had run over to him, and when they received no reaction, they decided to just tell him the truth, the whole truth, and nothing, but the truth (Chara didn’t approve). They explained how up until this run, they’d been able to cause a warp in time, and that they had mentally called it a **RESET**. They also mumbled, that they couldn’t seem to use it anymore.

They stumbled over their words as they spoke of some of those runs. Of how they’d ended up ruining everyone else’s lives in an attempt to help someone they knew (the same someone who hadn’t reared their flowery head yet). They whispered about how they’d thought that it didn’t really matter anyway... they breathed out how wrong they had been.

On and on they went telling him what they knew. They didn’t know why they were doing this, it just felt like they should. As they continued (occasionally repeating themselves), they watched for signs that Papyrus was listening. They looked for even the barest of twitches, for at least some acknowledgement that he was alive.. There was nothing.

“Papyrus, please do _something_ ,” Frisk begged. “Hate me, scold me, tell me I’m wrong. Take my soul (“Wait, what?” Chara objected) and free the underground. Just please show me that you’re still here. I can’t..”

 

* * *

 

Papyrus sighed, he looked at the _little_ (how could something so small do something like...that) human standing in front of him. He supposed that he should hate them.. in that moment especially, but he just.. couldn’t. “I don’t think that, that would solve anything little human. Violence only begets more violence.”

 

* * *

 

Papyrus thought for a while, and eventually decided that the two of them should head back to town after.. after gathering his brother’s dust into an old jar of Spaghetti sauce (without the sauce) that he happened to have on him. The pair walked quietly, neither willing to break the awkward silence (ok, Chara was willing, but that didn’t matter). Papyrus occasionally glancing at the little human and then quickly look away when he was certain they’d noticed.

As they entered town he was luckily able to find his phone (miraculously in one working piece). He knew that he should call Undyne, and give her what might’ve been the worst report she’d ever been faced with. Still.. he couldn’t bring himself to do it immediately. Instead he chose to set a pot of tea to boil, and make an attempt at composing himself. With that done he made the call..

After his report there was silence on the other end for a time, and then.. “ _Ngaaa! What do you mean, he’s dead! This isn’t funny Papyrus! Put your la.. huh.. What’s that, Alphys_ (so she was at Alphys’s)? _Uh huh.. Oh.. oh.. oh my.. I.. oh.. umm.. Papyrus, I’m.. not sure what to say.. I’m so sorry to hear that.. I.. I didn’t mean to.._ ( _obviously_ , Papyrus thought) _. Look.. when.. when.. should we hold the funeral? I mean.. we can do it tomorrow if you’d like.. umm.. I can make sure everyone knows.. I mean.. Papyrus you gotta answer me! You know what? I’ll come right over, so don’t you.._ ” “Tomorrow is fine, Undyne” Papyrus interrupted in a low voice. “I just.. I just need some.. time. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Papyrus glanced down at the phone in his gloved hands. He sighed and tossed it to the side. “ _Little_ human, if you’d need a place to stay for the evening, you can use my room, or the couch. We can also.. (sigh) I can’t have you stay here long term, but you should at least go to the funeral. I’ll make you.. a disguise or something I guess. After that though, you’ll need move on.”

“Papyrus I don’t think that..” Frisk stopped mid sentence, after seeing the look that on Papyrus’s skull. “ _Little_ human, I don’t care if you want to go or not. You should see all of those, whose souls you’ve hurt with your actions. It might make you think twice about your actions.” “I- I understand Papyrus.” “Oh, and one more thing _little_ human. Please don’t call me by that name.” “I understand Pap- I mean mister.” “Thank you.. now let’s head for bed. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

Later that evening, Frisk quietly glanced at Papyrus and (on instinct) checked him. “Well, crap” Chara sighed, as Frisk freaked out.

 

Papyrus’s HP had dropped 6 points.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve rewritten this chapter way to many times.   
> If you like (or dislike) something in this story, feel free to comment about it. 
> 
>  
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

The funeral was a modest affair, with only a few close friends attending. There was Papyrus, Grillby, Alphys, Undyne, and the rest of the Guard, (and Muffet for some reason) of course, but there were also a few new faces. There was a Froggit named Gerald and a Whimsalot named Maple just to name a few. There was also Undyne’s cousin Tsu, who had insisted on coming as support.

The funeral was simple enough. Part of the monster’s dust would be scattered onto a favorite object such as a ring or a picture (in this case it was Sans’s Joke book/book on quantum physics). Then the rest would be scattered over a plot of blessed land sectioned off from the rest of the underground (beneath a large crack), so as to return to the Great Sky. Then the favorite object was placed back in it’s place of origin, so that it would remind those left behind, that though their loved ones were gone, they would always be with them.

After a few small speeches and a few breakdowns, the small crowd began to disperse. Frisk, thinking that they had been there long enough, attempted to slip away. They’d almost done it too, when they caught the eye of Undyne.

You see, Undyne had learned of the human, the day before, from Alphys’s monitors (Alphys had been in the restroom at the time), and decided that justice would be served. She’d seen the human earlier, but Papyrus had been standing close by, and she hadn’t wished to upset him with the news (she hadn’t realized that he knew).

Undyne charged forward yelling, “die, human scum, Nggaaa!” She landed her first attack scoring several points off of Frisk’s HP. Frisk gasped, not used to the FIGHT system not activating right away. Undyne used her advantage to throw a few spears at Frisk, but this time Frisk was ready and they dodged in time. Still the magic didn’t activate, and Frisk was beginning to wonder if this was how they would die.

Yet again Undyne began to attack, when the Froggit (Gerald) stepped between them. He held up a webbed paw and croaked, “hold it! Undyne, this is a funeral. Not an execution, and you, human, you’re can’t leave yet, so take off that ridiculous cloak.”

Frisk (in a bit of a state of shock) took off the fuchsia (yes fuchsia) colored cloak that Papyrus had found in the back of one of the closets for them (it was his mom’s apparently). Now, Frisk had certainly heard plenty of Froggits speak before (in the Ruins and in New Home), and yet this one.. seemed.. Frisk wasn’t quite sure why, but something was definitely different.. maybe it was it’s cool demeanor, or perhaps it was it’s serious tone, or maybe.. it was the pink and purple bow tie it was sporting (“definitely the bow tie,” Chara giggled).

* * *

 

 

Frisk stood to the side nervously as final goodbyes were said and condolences were given to Papyrus. They weren’t sure what would happen to them now. They were tired of fighting, and in all honesty.. maybe it would be for the best if they just gave up this time. Maybe.. maybe.. may..

“Are you sure? Because if so, then..” Frisk looked up at the sound of Papyrus speaking. The Froggit (Gerald) nodded his, head? and turned to Frisk and asked, “and you, do you understand what this means? ... ( _facepalm?_ ) You weren’t listening, were you? I said, the old laws still technically state that should a any fallen human be below the age of 15 they are considered to be a child, and so must have a guardian. Also, it’s that monster’s job to insure that the human not get into trouble, such as picking fights, or causing property damage. A few of the humans that fell before you took advantage, and chose to stay rather than continue to their death. Now, do you understand?”

Frisk stared blankly at the Fro- at Gerald with a look of confusion. They didn’t remember such a law existing on any of their other runs. Perhaps it was another change? Or maybe everyone had just chosen to ignore it? Frisk wasn’t sure.

Noticing that mr. Gerald was looking at them expectantly, they responded, “yes sir, I understand.” “And are you under the age of 15?” “Umm.. yes.. I’m 12.”

“Good to know” he grinned (or at least Frisk thought it was a grin. It might’ve been a grimace). “Now, normally, one of the judges would take custody, but since.. well I don’t believe that, that would be the wisest course of action. You see, the others can be quite vengeful. Instead, I propose that you stay in New Home Community House until things have been settled.”

“No!” Both Undyne and Papyrus said at once. The two looked at each other before trying to speak at the same time, neither letting the other get a word in edgewise, while becoming louder and louder. Unfortunately this was a bit much for Gerald.

“One at a time, please,” Gerald yelled. “It’s not like the human is going anywhere. I mean.. just look at them!”

At that moment, almost as if to prove his point, Frisk happened to sneeze. Papyrus sighed, and turned back to Gerald. “Since my brother was the previous High Judge, it stands to reason that I would be the next most logical monster, would it not? Besides the NHCH can be rather.. well they.. They’d just let the human do as they please. And there’s no way, that, that would solve anything.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Papyrus!” Undyne growled, do you really think that you taking them would make things better? I mean that human.. they.. I mean.. You know what? You’d be going against everything that the Guard is built on! If you do this, you’ll never become a Guard.” “I.. I know, but how can I leave them to.. how can any human prove that they can do better without a chance? Monsters occasionally dust other monsters in self defense so why aren’t they hunted down?

Someone should at least try, and who better than THE GREAT PAPYRUS? I should th...” “If you’re sure, then we can discuss how to move forward,” interrupted Gerald. “Meet me at my office tomorrow at 2:42 to finalize the details.” And with that the mysterious Froggit named Gerald, _ran_ off.

* * *

 

 

_Later_

 

“Undyne you don’t have to stay,” Papyrus groaned, as she settled down on the couch. “Papyrus,” she said, “I know, that you know, that I know that I can’t leave you alone with that.. thing.” “That ‘thing’ as you put, is my guest.” “So, what? It’s not as if they..”

Frisk fell into their thoughts, as the two monsters began arguing over whether any human deserved anything other than death. Frisk was trying to wrap their head around the new rules, though, they supposed weren’t actually new. In hindsight it made a lot of things make sense. Sans had been probably been their “guardian” which had insured that they would be able to pass through the underground, so long as he kept tabs on them. It also brought a new light to some of the older monsters’ reactions to them.

Hopefully, these rules would mean that, now they had a chance to (maybe) undo what had happened. To regain their lost **DETERMINATION**. To.. to help those that they’d hurt and might hurt this run. Because they could see through the act now. And despite Papyrus’s positive seeming attitude.

 

He definitely wasn’t ok... and neither were they.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d love to hear what you think of the story so far, good or bad.
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

Everything is fine, Papyrus thought to himself as found himself in yet another meeting about the human. While the matter of actually attaining guardianship had been somewhat difficult (Papyrus barely fell within the minimum age limit) they had managed to get through it (no thanks to Gerald). After that he’d had to find a school that would accept humans (not easy) and take over his brother’s posts (well.. _maybe_ not the second one, but he couldn’t stand the idea of someone else.. so he’d opened his big mouth and offered.. _again_.. he did need the job).. but that was fine. After all he’d wanted to do this.. or rather, he’d _said_ he wanted to do this.

Still.. the kid wasn’t.. bad necessarily. They were just.. it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that he’d tried to act like nothing was wrong. Like he.. like Sans.. like everything was normal. The problem was that it wasn’t normal, and it would never be normal again. The night after the funeral he’d picked a fight with Undyne.. _Undyne_ , of all people (and she’d apologized.. which was ridiculous).

And it hadn’t stopped there. No, he wasn’t just fighting with everyone about everything, but there was this feeling of anger that had taken hold of him. And it seemed like everything just.. fanned it’s flames inside him. And of course he couldn’t forget that his HP was still continuing to drop (point by point, slowly killing him), but that was _fine_.

He’d found that moving out of that empty house (leaving everything where it should be) had helped the anger to start to fade.. along with everything else. He knew that he should probably care, but.. it wasn’t like it really mattered in the long run, right? Plus, everything was _fine_.

 

* * *

 

“Everything is not fine” Frisk growled at their ghostly apparition of a friend. “It’s been three months Chara, three! And nothing that anyone does seems to have an affect on that bonehead.” “Well maybe you’re outlook on this, is off? I mean.. what proof do you have that something’s actually wrong with him?” Chara argued. Although, in all honesty she was just as worried, but what could they do? After all even Undyne had ended up giving up ages ago. Actually.. Undyne had practically stopped speaking to Papyrus at this point.

“Well what about his HP genius? It’s officially fallen below any acceptable range... Do you think it’s my fault? Wait, don’t answer that.. I just.. do you think I should’ve just continued on anyway? Like.. like maybe I could’ve regained the ability..” Frisk was just rambling now. Chara knew that there wasn’t anything waiting for Frisk outside the mountain. Especially not their **DETERMINATION**.

Their home life had been rather.. miserable, being trapped in _that_ _place_. Chara had been surprised to find out (after the first run) that even after all this time they had remained practically unchanged (you’d think they’d learn after all this time). The mountain had truly been Frisk’s last chance..

“Maybe you could try something different, then?” Chara asked trying to pull Frisk away from thoughts of leaving. “I mean, we’re obviously doing _something_ wrong, so what should we try next.. and don’t say flirting because you’ve already tried that _twice_. I don’t think I could take the embarrassment of a third try.” Chara refused to look at Frisk and her face flushed a vibrant pink color.

“I don’t know..” sighed Frisk, “I bet Sans would’ve known, but..” “Well your not Sans... But I guess you could try doing whatever he did.” “You mean use bad puns and jokes to ignore the issue?” “Yes, no, that’s not what I mea..” “Actually that’s perfect, puns and jokes.” “Frisk no, that’s stupid.”

Frisk wasn’t listening to Chara’s protests as they ran to the library for a copy of _1001 Jokes and Puns for the Joke Illiterate_ by Laffe A. Lotte (one of Sans’s favorites) to study.

 

* * *

 

    “Hey mister (that’s never going to work), why was the question afraid of the puzzle... because it had some _crosswords_ to say.” “Mister P (still not right), how many conductors does it take to screw in a lightbulb.. none. Conductors don’t do things, they _conduct_ others to do them.” “Mister ...Rus (that’s gonna have to do) guess what... we can watch time fly (tosses a watch at the couch).” “Rus (maybe a little ruder?).. I think you pretty _cool_ (shows a picture of Papyrus’s face made out of ice. “Hey Rus. Knock knock.. who’s there? Ketchup.. ketchup who? I just wanted to _ketchup_ with you.”

Upon hearing the last one Papyrus groaned (it had sounded similar to one of his brother’s favorites). Frisk, seeing this as their chance continued, “you know, I’m really _bonely_ without you. Like a _skeleton_ of _boneliness_.” Papyrus sighed and he looked at the human, no at Frisk. He tried to look mad, but their face held such a suspicious innocence (a look he was very familiar with), that he just couldn’t help, but grin back at them for a second before frowning again.

 

“You know little human... you’ve just reminded me of something I’d forgotten about... but umm.. could you explain to me, why all the jokes lately.. and umm.. who is this Rus?”


	12. 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry I haven’t updated recently. I’ve been a little busy. On a more positive note this fic has reached 10 kudos which is about.. 10 more than I expected, so thank you. 
> 
> My Tumblr:  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/artakusmile
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

The thing that Frisk had reminded Papyrus of was ( _of_ _course_ ) his brother. Which had reminded him about how Sans had, at one point in time (before the **ci**nt), been _very_ interested in the aspects of the practical use time travel. Actually, more than _just_ interested. Sans had begun to relentlessly study the phenomena after.. after Berkeley’s accident. Nothing could stop him, and it had only been after **d had.. d***ppe**ed that Sans had (surprisingly) lost interest.

Now Sans had claimed that all documentation of the project had been destroyed, but Papyrus knew that, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t still some sort of record. After all, Sans had always been quite the information hoarder. Also, Papyrus was pretty sure that Sans’s notebooks were still where Sans had left them. They should be.. down in the.. the basement of the.. _the_ _house_.

Papyrus sighed, he would just have to go and get them, so that he could bring them to back to the apartment. He could do this. He just needed to keep a positive attitude. If things worked out (and he certainly hoped they would) there was a chance (a slim one) that they would.. that they could.. that they might be able to preform what the human (Frisk) called a **RESET**.

Papyrus was ( _almost_ ) certain that it could work. _No_ , _it_ _would_ _work_ , he decided. It had to. This was the only way that.. that the path could be corrected. The human.. no.. Frisk (Papyrus mentally chided himself. Frisk wasn’t just a _thing_ , but was in fact a living breathing creature with a higher level of intelligence) had promised that they weren’t interested in fighting anymore (or so they _said_ , at least). They certainly didn’t seem to be **DETERMINED** enough to do anything like that, at least.

If they had been, then they would’ve just reloaded after.. b-before he had.. before everything had been irrevocably destroyed. And if he was to be honest with himself, he had begun to recognize their random flailing of their arms around, for what it actually was. They were attempting a **RESET**. Of course they rarely attempted one anymore, but at first they would try at least 3-4 times every hour. Eventually though, they had just.. given up stopped trying as hard.

And around that time, they had begun to talk to.. someone invisible (or imaginary). They clearly didn’t _want_ him to find out, but he had caught them on more than one occasion, speaking to their friend.. Chara? only to spot Papyrus and quickly shut their mouth. It was a little bit disturbing.

But.. enough with the off topic thoughts. Papyrus had (shockingly) procrastinated for longer than he’d intended (over an hour too long). “Nyehehe, Sans would be laughing his ass off if he knew.. not that us skeletons have asses.” Papyrus quietly whispered to himself. A small smile slowly finding itself onto his face at the thought, before swiftly fading again. “Well.. I’d better get moving, it’s getting late.”

 

* * *

 

 

As Papyrus took the long walk back to Snowdin (he still wasn’t ready to return to that empty house), he found his thoughts drifting back to that of his missing brother. He wondered if Sans would have recognized him, if he were to suddenly reappear.

Gone was that silly costume (and some of his more.. out there outfits) that he’d sworn he would wear until Undyne let him join the Guard (though he would admit that he’d kept his boots and scarf, because they had been gifts and he couldn’t bring himself to replace them). In it’s place was a rather more conservative outfit, that (even with it’s multiple layers) never seemed to help him stay warm anymore. And as if that wasn’t enough of a change, his whole personality seemed to have done a bit of a flip.

No longer, did he, loudly leap before he looked, rather instead choosing to quietly consider his choices (and their repercussions) before deciding on a course of action. Also the idea of joining the Guard had recently become.. undesirable, or to be more exact.. it had merely become to difficult of a task to keep pretending that he actually _wanted_ in (not that he would ever admit to anyone but himself, though).

He hadn’t even spoken to Undyne much outside of work, anymore. He supposed he could probably have blamed the human for it. That would have been a lie, though. The truth was simple. It was just too difficult to look her in the eye without feeling almost guilty. And (unfortunately) the idea of cooking anything (especially spaghetti) had soured, leaving him without even his one coping mechanism.

Plus.. he was pretty sure Undyne had begun to hate him for what he’d done. Not that he had _done_ _anything_ wrong, necessarily. So _what_ if he’d ended up taking guardianship of the human. It wasn’t as if that was something he wouldn’t have normally done. In _fact,_ one of the big reasons he’d volunteered, was because, that was the “Papyrus” thing to do. And wasn’t Alphys also pro-human? Did that mean that Alphys, was also not worthy of Undyne’s approval? If the answer was that she was worthy, then what did that mean? Did it mean that he..

“Oh, Papyrus, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Dogerressa yipped, pulling Papyrus out of his rapidly darkening thoughts. “I thought you’d finally left us behind for sure. Not that, that’s a bad thing, but it is nice to see your friendly face.” Dogeressa attempted to smile brightly, but it looked more sad then anything. “Oh... Ms. Dogeressa.. I’m just.. I was just trying to..”

Papyrus wasn’t sure what to say. He knew that he should’ve prepared for this. The dogs (much like the bunny family)had always been good neighbors (even if they had a _thing_ about bones). His plan had been to not run into anyone. Unfortunately that had relied on the idea, that everyone would still be at work, or (if not) at Grillby’s. He still wasn’t (and probably never would be) ready to face them again. He began to feel his nonexistent heart squeeze, as his not-lungs tried desperately to pull in air.

Sensing his distress, Dogeressa offered another smile (much more genuine this time) and told him not to worry about it. She then waved goodbye and walked away.

Papyrus stared after her for a few minutes as his body slowly unwound it’s self, before quickly continuing on his way. He quietly walked up to his home of seven years.. and swiftly went around back, before his emotions could get the better of him. He removed the spare key from it’s hiding place, unlocked the door, ran down the steps, and took a cursory glance around the room, before his eyes alighted on the work table across the room.

Slowly he began searching through some of the open drawers (many were locked). He found few journals, an album from when.. Sans.. was in high school, some miscellaneous items, and an old drawing. It was one of many, that Papyrus had drawn many years ago. Papyrus stared at the drawing for a long time, tears slowly slipping from his sockets as he gazed upon it.

After several minutes, Papyrus quickly and quietly folded the picture up and slipped it into his pocket. He then grabbed the journals, the album, and a set of blueprints that had been sitting out on the counter. And.. then he left as quickly and quietly as he’d entered.


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d love to hear how you think I’m doing. Don’t worry, I have tough skin. 
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

School had never been easy for Frisk. Of course.. back on the surface it had been because of their strong soul. See... Frisk was from a small and somewhat isolated country called Dellona. And in Dellona.. well let’s just say that people with strong souls were considered untrained (or even possibly trained) witches. And witches (trained or not) didn’t tend to have long and/or healthy lives.

Luckily (or possibly unluckily) for Frisk the underground had no such qualms. Rather they had found that their problems came from the fact that (despite their strong soul) they couldn’t use magic.. _oh_ , _the_ _irony_. And of course they had to take, not one, but two classes that required having, at least, a basic understanding of how magic worked. Which of course meant that, they were year behind their new schoolmates in both of those classes. And unfortunately (as their LV of 2 cruelly continued to remind them) they could no longer just **RELOAD** , so.. no more undoing embarrassing mistakes.

Honestly, they weren’t looking forward to getting their grades (they didn’t need the conformation that they sucked). And it didn’t help that Chara wouldn’t take this seriously. After all, “it wasn’t like it would _kill_ someone, _right_?” She’d pointed out on numerous occasions. Sadly, Frisk wasn’t so sure. They were pretty sure it might kill them.

They supposed that they could’ve asked their friends for help except.. being a known human apparently tended to equal having no friends, which meant no one to ask (beg) for help. There _was_ technically Mon (monster kid) but.. Mon wasn’t in Frisk’s class (or school), and he also wasn’t necessarily.. the brightest of students. He was a great friend though, which was more Frisk could’ve ever hoped for, before falling.

Now, why was this important? Well it wasn’t really, but it did mean that Frisk was distracted (and upset) when they entered the apartment.

They walked through the small entryway and into the apartment’s living room/kitchen (which was more than three times the size of the rest of the place) with a puff of irritation. They barely glanced up as they walked over to one of the four doors that led to two broom closet bedrooms, a rather small bathroom, and (strangely) what the landlord had referred to as the “dining room” (office).

The whole apartment had seemed oddly proportioned (and quite a bit larger than the outside suggested) to Frisk when they had first moved in to it with Papyrus. They’d asked a ton (a _skeleton_ ) of questions about monster architecture. From the bizarre lay outs to the sizes, and just about everything else in between. Unfortunately, to their dismay, they had only received vague answers like “because magic” or “is it not like this on the surface?” Frisk probably should’ve expected such answers, considering magic is a thing in the underground. It still kinda bothered them though.

They entered the slightly smaller of the two bed rooms, dumped their bag on the floor, and flopped down on their bed with a groan.

They glanced over at Chara with a frown and asked, “was it this hard for you?” Chara considered this. When she had fallen, humans may not have been a part of monster life, but at least back then, they had known enough about humans to not expect her to be able to master things like spell work and enchanting. But that wasn’t what Frisk wanted (or needed) to hear. Instead of answering she decided (wisely in her opinion) to quickly change Frisk’s focus instead.

“Why don’t you just go and see if Papyrus can help? I mean his magic control is impeccable, _right_? And he’s super nice, _right_? I bet he could give you some tips.” Chara stated as she tried to keep the overwhelming guilt in her nonexistent heart from showing on her face (she failed).

Frisk gave Chara a look that rivaled one of her scariest faces and stood up. They quietly left their room, and politely knocked on Papyrus’s door. There was no answer,

“Maybe he’s at work? I mean it _is_ his day off, so he _should_ be here (probably), but..” Chara mused, as Frisk sighed in defeat. There would be no help today (or ever if they were to have their way). They slowly returned to their room to grab their bag, and entered the office to find.. Papyrus frowning over a.. pile of books and papers (and a surprisingly messy one at that)?

“Umm.. Rus (still banned from using his name)? Are you.. what are.. sorry to bother you, but could..?” Frisk attempted to get their words out, but found they couldn’t seem to string together their words into a sentence. They also began to squirm uncomfortably, as they received no acknowledgement to their presence. At least they had back up, right? They looked at Chara pleadingly.

Chara raised an eyebrow. “ _Really_?! Are we really doing _this_ again?” She asked a little snidely. “I thought that you’d finally made _some_ progress. (sigh) You know what.. I’m not going to sit here for the next several months and just watch you stand around staring at your feet, while being ignored. Again! I’ll be waiting in your room if you need me,” Chara said exasperatedly. And with those words hanging in the air, Chara left (she should have stuck around).

“Oh.. hum-.. or rather.. I mean.. Frisk. I wasn’t expecting you back yet,” Papyrus tentatively smiled up at Frisk, as he finally noticed them. “Oh, well um.. school finished so.. I didn’t wasn’t sure that.. erm.. are those.. what _are_ those?” Frisk asked, pointing at the pile of notebooks on the table. “Hmm? Oh, nothing really. Just something of Sans’s. I found them just.. sitting in a box of stuff that I..” Papyrus replied softly as he began to quickly gather them.

“May I see?” Frisk asked curiously, hopeful for a distraction from their less than stellar marks. “No,” Papyrus quickly replied (moving even faster now). “I was.. I was just about to take a break anyway.. oh, what’s wrong?” He added seeing Frisk’s poker face crack slightly. Frisk tried to smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace. “Oh nothing really,” they replied. They glanced at their bag, and sighed. “Do you think that you.. could you maybe.. please help me with my homework? I’m.. I’m just not... I can’t seem to.. I just can’t seem to.. to understand magic. I guess you could say that, it just won’t.. ah.. _fall_ _for_ _my_ _charms_?... never mind. I’ll just let myself out.”

“You need help.. with.. homework? (sigh) Who am I kidding? You’re a human. Of course you would need help. I suppose that.. thAT SOUNDS LIKE A TASk for.. I mean.. I think that I might be able to help. That is.. if you really want me to.”


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I’ve fallen off the radar. I kinda sorta hit writers block... hopefully anybody still reading this will enjoy. 
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox 
> 
>  
> 
> My somewhat empty tumblr- https://artakusmile.tumblr.com

Waterfall had never seemed quieter than in this moment. Though it was true that Waterfall was often quiet, that quiet would normally leave one with a feeling of serenity. No, this quiet was much harsher, much crueler. This quiet left even the happiest of people sorrowfully clinging to their loved ones..

     What made it worse was how there seemed no break to this quiet. Gone was the booming voice that would echo through Waterfall. As was the equally loud (and _extremely_ excited) replies, that would often bring smiles to the faces of the many denizens that called this place home... all that was left was an empty ache.

     Through this quiet, stomped a proud young woman lost deep in thought. At first glance she seemed as much herself as always. But should one take a more than one glance they would notice that something was amiss. Perhaps it was the slight hunch to her posture, or the bags beginning to form under her now almost lifeless eyes. Or maybe it was how she just couldn’t seem able to focus on where she was headed, or how she quietly shambled along her patrol route.

    This young women had recently had one of her someone she had once (and still did) considered family die. His only kin left (his brother) had begun to fall, and there was nothing she could do about it.

     At first she _had_ tried to look after him (made sure he was ok, tried to show that someone still cared, etc.), but every encounter seemed doomed to end in yet _another_ fight. Whether it was about _that_ _child_ (how could he trust that _thing_? That _murderer_?), his health (or lack thereof), or some new topic didn’t seem to matter. It would always end with at least one (often both) of them screaming.

    She’d first sought advice from her friend and crush, hoping they might’ve found an answer in one of their many “ _history_ ” books. Unfortunately they hadn’t been of much (if any) help... She’d tried asking her father, but he had refused to answer any of her calls ( _again_ ). She asked everyone she came across for advice, even traveling down to Rivertown to try asking her father in person (turns out he had traveled to Meadow for her mom’s death anniversary). Still, she couldn’t seem to find the right answer. In the mean time, she had been taking her mentors (in all their wisdom) had advise that perhaps her young (not that young) friend should perhaps be given some space. It had seemed to work at first. After all he had recently handed in his weekly report in person for the first time in months, but.. she couldn’t ignore this nagging feeling she had.

    After all.. she’d been through this before. And last time... well last time she’d ended up losing her best friend after waiting too long. Thinking back on it, the young women found herself wondering if perhaps letting this waiting game continue was a bad idea? No, it definitely was a terrible idea. Especially when it came to _that_ family. She grimaced at the memory of what had become quite the sore spot for her. It was one of the biggest reasons  why she preferred a more aggressive approach, after all.

    She shook her head, and sighed. This wasn’t like her at all. She was supposed to be the one that charged ahead screaming with delight, as friends and family looked on in horror. After all, she was Captain of the Royal Guard and she never backed down from a challenge. Right? Right.. She would save him from himself and the brat. She had to, but she would have to do this his way, which meant one thing. Undyne needed to find the _perfect_ gift...

 

How hard could that be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would love some critique, good or bad.


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. I’ve updated my summary, and I’m going to be sticking with Undyne for now. Would love some critique
> 
> My Tumblr: https://artakusmile.tumblr.com
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

All right, so _maybe_ finding the perfect makeup gift wasn’t as easy as it had originally seemed (or should’ve been). _It’s_ _a_ _wonder_ _that_ _Papyrus_ _even_ _bothers_ _to_ _put_ _any_ _effort_ _into_ _this_ _sort_ _of_ _thing_ , Undyne thought to herself. After all, it had already been _3_ _whole_ _days_ since she had first set out on her quest, and.. she’d hit a wall. Or, to be more exact, she had finally acknowledged said wall.

At first, she had planned on baking something (like spaghetti) to give Papyrus, but (unfortunately) her stove (and consequently her house) had caught fire.. again. Plan two was to try and “find” (ask Alphys to make) a copy of one of her favorite anime to share, but.. Papyrus didn’t really _like_ anime (his loss), so that was out. There had also been a sweater that she’d tried (and failed) to knit, but that.. well.. it had.. been in the house.. when it burned down.

She supposed that she did technically have a third option up her sleeve, but.. she didn’t like it. After all, even if she had (she didn’t) felt like he was ready, it seemed as if he was no longer interested in the Guard. In fact, recently she’d begun to.. _notice_ that maybe.. she wasn’t entirely sure, but.. she was beginning to _suspect_ that Papyrus, might not have.. actually.. been interested in the Guard. At least, not as much as he claimed to be. Or rather, to be more exact, _used_ to claim. In fact...

Undyne was beginning to realize that she didn’t know her skelly friend as well as she’d thought. Hell, she wasn’t even cetain if- “Nggaaa!” She screamed pulling her mind away from more.. disturbing thoughts. Papyrus was Papyrus, and Papyrus was her friend. That was all that mattered. And if Undyne didn’t know what he liked, then she would just have to find out.

 

* * *

 

  _Two_ _hours_ _(_ _and_ _several_ _swear_ _words)_   _later..._

 

Snowdin seemed even colder than usual (if that was that was even possible). Undyne shivered as she walked up to the.. to their old house. She breathed in the frostbitten air ( ~~teeth chattering, lungs~~ ~~screaming~~ ) and sighed. She’d thought.. she’d hoped.. she wasn’t sure what she’d thought, but standing in front of the now empty house crushed a her soul to dust. Leaving only a hollow ache in its place. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling, but at least it was something she was familiar with.

Years ago, after.. B.. Ber.. _he_ (she still couldn’t bring herself to say _his_ name) had died, she loathed feeling such aches in her soul. She hated herself for it, but back then she had chosen to suppress those feelings. To pretend everything was ok. But now?.. now she was much older, and often found herself welcoming such pains as a reminder that _he_ and.. now Sans, had actually existed. It was also good motivation to get things like ~~breaking~~ ~~and~~ ~~entering~~ this over and done with.

She sighed again, set her mouth in a tight line, and stepped forward. Upon trying the door, she found that it was.. unlocked ( _Confound_ _it_ _Papyrus,_ _you_ _know_ _better_ ). She silently entered and was across the room (past _that_ book) and up the stairs before you could say, “Boulder Suplex”. She hesitated for half a second in front of his door, before opening it without even the smallest of squeeks and entered.

His room was practically untouched. The books on the bookshelf, the action figures, the car bed, the computer, and even that ridiculous _industrial_ _strength_ soundproofing magic (who need’s that? Seriously) remained untouched. The only _real_ difference was the thin sheet of frost, that now covered everything. Undyne silently cursed. What had she hoped to find? _A_ _fucking_   _Gyftmas_ _list_?

Undyne snorted, and felt an itch in her eye. Maybe.. she should.. maybe it was time to.. No, Undyne wasn’t going to let this stop her. After all she was Undyne. Captain of the Royal Guard. Nothing could sto-

“Come out with your appendages where I can see them.” 

 

Undyne sighed for the third time that morning. Apparently, it was going to be one of _those_ days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna say this now. The individual that Undyne can’t bring herself to acknowledge is not a past romantic interest.


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s to hoping that you’re having a good day! 
> 
> My Tumblr- https://artakusmile.tumblr.com
> 
> Undertale belongs to Toby Fox

Undyne slowly began to walk towards the front door, growling under her breath. She briefly wondered who could have ~~understandably~~ mistaken _her_ for a vandal. Or perhaps, she thought to herself, it was some unknown ( ~~hopefully~~ ~~not~~ ~~the~~ ~~human~~ ) that would require her to fight. She exited the house.. to find Dogamy. 

Undyne frowned at this. True, it wasn’t unusual for the canine unit to respond by sending only one or two agents, but seeing Dogamy just standing there, notprepping for an inevitable attack, slightly concerned her. What was worse, was that upon a quick sniff he had quickly apologized, and explained that a break-in had been reported. “He should’ve recognized me immediately,” Undyne whispered under her breath. She then, growled loudly (to ensure her displeasure was noticed) and began walking off in a huff.

“I was just.. (yip) trying to do my job ma- er Captain.. didn’t.. (bark) didn’t mean to.. er stop whatever it was.. that you were.. doing.. (howl).” Dogamy whined as he chased an irate Captain. “Would never mean to.. (arf) cause you trouble.”

The short walk to the Snowdin Guard Station (the SGS for short), seemed to take hours though in reality it took only a few short minutes. During the walk Undyne stubbornly pretended not to notice Dogamy’s seemingly unstoppable slew of apologies, instead focusing on not taking her frustrations out on the terrified dog monster. After a few minutes walking she felt (yet another) sigh (this time in relief and anger) fall from her lips as she spotted the comforting form of Grillby’s across from the tall, cold, and imposing form of the SGS...

* * *

 

 _Built_ _of_ _pure_ _lumarite_ , _the_   _Snowdin_   _Guard_ _Station_ , _or_ _the_ _SGS_ _to_ most, _was originally built to be used as a fort, in preparation forthr humans. It is said to have charms that would render it invisible to the human eye. It is also said that it bares a nearly impenetrable defense. Tragically it is uncertain whether any of this in fact true due to the nature of said tales. What is certsin is that it was created by our dear Queen Radiance, may her dudt teach the heavens and beyond, more than a decade before the horror known as the war began._

 _On_ _another_ _note_ , _it_ _has_ _been_ _found_ _to_ _have_ _three_ _brethren_ , _each_ _now_ _baring_ _a_ _designation_ _handpicked_ _by_ _our_ _good_ _King_ _Leonas, may his rule be ever peaceful._   _They_ _are_ _called:_   _Waterfall_ _Guard_ _Station_ ( _WGS_ ), _Hotland_ _Guard_ _Station_ ( _HGS_ ), _and_ _Pleasant_ _Hills_ _Guard_ _Station_ ( _PHGS)._   _As_ _I’ve_ _mentioned_ _before_ , our king has _never_ _been_ _the_ _best_ _at_ _naming_ _things..._

 

( _Achoo_ )

 

Frisk frowned down at the page they had just read in confusion. They didn’t remember any buildings that fit this description. Of course, they’d somehow missed several towns, farmland, and the final resting place of all monsters, so why not a giant fort in the middle of town? “Pay attention, this will be on the test,” the teacher drawled. Frisk groaned and returned to their studying...

 

* * *

 

Undyne stormed down the barren halls of the SGS, scattering the few unlucky souls that stood in her path. She ignored their fearful whimpers as she focused on reaching her accuser. She couldn’t believe anyone could be so ~~in~~ ~~the right~~ confused as to call her of all people a burglar. She continued growling and occasionally spewing curses, only slowing her rampage as she reached the place that her accuser was staying, room 888.

Undyne burst through the door to find a young Spider monster half buried in blankets sipping tea from a tiny tea cup, as she shivered uncontrollably. The Spider monster (Muffet, Undyne thought she remembered, from the funeral) looked up, somewhat _bug-_ _eyed_ (dang it Sans, you’ve ruined me) at the Captain. She then seemed to almost freeze in place before slowly placing her little cup on its saucer and raising then cautiously raising her hands in (what she hoped was) a placating manner.

“Greetings Captain,” Muffet seemed to almost breath in a small and heavily accented voice. “May I inquire as to what hath brought you to unto my current abode? I am unaware of any.. laws that I may have broken.”

Undyne’s growls deepened in her chest as she snapped. “Are you serious? You’re the one that accused me, _ME_ of all people, of breaking and entering. What the hell is wrong with you?” Undyne began to pace, continuing to growl at the poor monster.

Muffet paled. She had certainly reported a break-in, but she hadn’t realized that the perpetrator had been the only person (outside of family) with what was technically, free reign to the house (mostly due to the frequent fires at the Captain’s house, but still). How could she explain? If she was honest about the whole affair, she had truly feared that it was one of those horrid teenagers attempting to vandalize her dear cousins’ house.

As Muffet began to stutter an apology, Undyne sighed. Perhaps she _was_ ~~taking her frustrations out on~~  being a little mean to Muffet. Heck, even she could tell that the young Spider was trying to keep her tea down, and here Undyne was, getting mad at her because.. because it was easy. And that just wasn’t an acceptable reason for a Guard. (Sigh) lets try this again.

“Look, I get that the light crystals are low, and that you probably couldn’t tell it was me, and all. I really do but Could you maybe.. I don’t know, answer a question for me? What are you even doing here? I mean, I know.. or rather as far as I can remember, most if not all of the spider clans are supposed abhor the cold, and therefore as an extension, Snowdin with a passion. It must feel like hell to be here,” Undyne placated hypocritically.

 

Muffet looked questioningly at the Captain. While she had heard that the Captain could be a little ignorant at times, surely Undyne _most_ know? It wasn’t like it was a secret. Plus if Undyne (most denizens of Waterfall had just as much of a reputation, when it came to temperature issues) was here, it must be for similar reasons. “I was attempting to..check on my little.. or perhaps not quite so _little_ , cousin... Papyrus. You see, I haven’t heard from him since.. that is to say.. well since this whole mess started, not even on his blog, and I thought that he might actually.. actually be here since he hates Hotlands so much. You see the irony in this, correct? Because his mother, my aunt, _was_ an Arachnian.” A little sniffle escaped Muffet as she took a breath, before continuing.

“Anyway.. umm.. my fiancé volunteered to watch the “bake sale” while I.. was here, and.. and now I’m hearing that he just.. left? And no one, not even.. _well_ anyone, can tell me anything.. I can’t.. I..” Muffet stopped to blow into a hanky that she’d pulled from her item box, “I don’t understand. What is going on?”

 

Undyne attempted to conceal her surprise at this. She had all but forgotten that.. that Papyrus’s mom had been a pure bred Spider. Not that it had ever really mattered in the scheme of things (though this reminder _did_ make Papyrus’s stupid wish make a _bit_ more sense). Undyne had once heard that Elegy (previously named Kookie) had never been on good terms with her family. Her interest in a Skelly of all things, as a potential choice of mate, had been considered rather.. _unacceptable_ , after all. In the end, the kelp that broke the tuna’s back, had been Kookie doing the equivalent of denouncing the clans, by taking on a Skeleton name, just a few weeks before she was bound.

Unfortunately, because of that “betrayal”, the clans had definitely supposedly chosen to put a bounty on her head, leading her to never return to Lower Hotland. Not that bounties (much like dusters) were _supposed_  to be a thing. At least.. not to the main population. Still..

Undyne glanced at Muffet. The young Spider did seem to be truly distraught, and she had been at the funeral despite the cold of Snowdin. Of course she could just be very good at acting. She was a Spider, or Arachnian? Undyne had never heard of them before, but if she had to guess why. It probably had something to do with the fact, that she had never been farther than the Lab (too hot). Which was.. not important right now. What was important was deciding what to do. Undyne groaned inwardly, as she made her decision. This really wasn’t her day...

 

“So... uh, Muffet, was it? Maybe we should.. compare notes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would love to know what you think!


End file.
